Cooking

Peel tomatoes like a pro

When rustling up tomato sauce or salsa, chefs know to discard tough tomato skins. Here’s how: score an X at the stem of each tomato, drop in boiling water for 15–20 seconds, remove and put straight into iced water until cool enough to work with, then pull the skin away in strips

Learn how to make a decent roux

Roux serves as a thickening base for gravy, stews and sauces such as béchamel (white sauce). It's made in a pan with equal amounts of melted butter and plain flour mixed vigorously together before liquid is added. Chefs will work on perfecting this method as it comes up time and again in the kitchen.

Make the most of produce

Kitchens work to tight margins and won’t throw away produce that can be used in some way. For example, fresh tomatoes on the turn will be cut widthways, seasoned and splashed with oil and slow roasted in the oven at about 200°C (390°F) for a couple of hours. These can then be used for pasta or pizza dishes or in salads.

Season as you go

If a dish tastes bland salt will enhance flavour. Professional cooks don’t just add salt and pepper at the end of cooking, they add it throughout, tasting as they go.

Balance salt and sweet

It may seem counter-intuitive to add sugar to savoury dishes but it acts as a seasoning, like salt, to balance out the sharpness of acidic ingredients such as vinegar or tomatoes. Alternatively, a dish that’s a little sweet or bland will benefit from acidity from citrus juice, vinegar or Worcester sauce.

Save dishes that you've over-seasoned

A common trick in kitchens when a dish has been over-salted is to add a raw, peeled potato during cooking. It's said to absorb excess seasoning, and according to Raymond Blanc, it really does work.